New Year 2017

The first half of 2016 presented quite a few challenges for Groasis. We had to deal with copycats who copied our 2012 model of the Growboxx® plant cocoon, we faced tough discussions with our bank, people close to us had health issues and finally, we had to reorganize our sales and logistic department as our talented sales manager Margot moved to Belgium and left our team.

Then, from June 30, everything changed miraculously.

Early 2016 we planted 52 pilot projects in 31 countries with the latest 2015 model of the biodegradable Growboxx® plant cocoon, which is made from recycled paper pulp. Six months later these trials produced wonderful results. In july wee became debt free from our bank. On July 13 we signed our biggest order ever (with the State of Baja California) at the Mexican Embassy in the Netherlands: they ordered 1 million Growboxxes®! In September we were announced as one of the ten nominees for the National Icon coronation by the Dutch Government. Then on October 18 the incredible happened: Groasis became National Icon of The Netherlands, together with Redstack and ASML. Groasis was designated ‘one of the 3 most innovative projects of The Netherlands with a high social impact and supporting economic growth’. The Pesident of the jury, Mr. Hans Wijers, compared the coronation as National Icon to receiving an Oscar for movie stars, and Groasis is allowed to use the title “National Icon” eternally. We are very grateful to the Dutch Government for their acknowledgement of our work and for identifying the potential impact Groasis can have on the world. Since receiving the title “National Icon” we have been approached by hundreds of people, companies, NGO’s and even governments. The support from our Ministry of Economic Affairs is amazing, the dedication of its employees inspires us to work even harder. December 2016 produced further great highlights: we received our 2nd biggest order ever for the 10x reusable Waterboxx® plant cocoon for delivery to Ethiopia. Then, on December 14, we had the honour to speak to the President and Members of the Mexican Congress’s ‘Water Commission’ and ‘Climate Change Commission’. I hope they are as inspired as we are by the opportunity that the Groasis Technology offers.

At the start of 2017, being National Icon, we feel a big responsibility to make our promises come true. Our mission and vision is to realize the Treesolution. We believe that trees can help create wealth for rural families who live in areas with degraded land and who are suffering from water shortage. With the Growboxx® plant cocoon they can plant productive trees in combination with vegetables, while using over 90% less water when compared to drip irrigation. The vegetable harvest gives them immediate revenues when they sell their crops or provides food for their families to eat.

If you share our dream to improve the lives of millions by ensuring food security, sustainable soil improvement and reduced water consumption, then we invite you to join us in 2017. We have opened the possibility for all our followers to become a Friend of Groasis. If you want to know more, then follow this link and be inspired!